


Concession

by colorlessgreenideas



Category: Fire Emblem: Fuukasetsugetsu | Fire Emblem: Three Houses
Genre: A LOT of Angst, F/M, Hubert/Edelgard POV, Post-Black Eagles Route (Fire Emblem: Three Houses), Very Light Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-11
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:49:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,552
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29971440
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/colorlessgreenideas/pseuds/colorlessgreenideas
Summary: The many facets of Hubert and Edelgard's relationship have a tendency to spawn needless complexities.Just an angsty snippet inspired by Ferdinand and Edelgard's A-Support, set a few years after the end of Crimson Flower. (For reasons unknown, Byleth is MIA.)
Relationships: Edelgard von Hresvelg & Hubert von Vestra, Edelgard von Hresvelg/Hubert von Vestra, Ferdinand von Aegir & Edelgard von Hresvelg, Ferdinand von Aegir & Hubert von Vestra, Ferdinand von Aegir/Edelgard von Hresvelg
Kudos: 13





	Concession

Hubert started as his study door flew open without warning, his quill pen stuttering across the record he had been carefully scratching away at for the past half-hour. 

He muttered something very impolite at the unsavory blotch of ink now marring the page, and glanced up from his desk to rebuke the intruder, realizing for the first time who it was.

“Your Majesty.” He breathed.

Edelgard had burst into the room, and was now hovering just within the doorway. She appeared unusually flustered, the color of her cheeks rivaling that of her crimson garments and the scarlet wall hangings.

Upon seeing her, Hubert’s annoyance dissipated, replaced instantly with concern. He crossed the modest room in a few strides, nearly knocking over his inkwell in the process, and reached her side before she could speak. 

“Your Majesty, what’s wrong? Has something happened?”

Edelgard simply stared at him for a moment, his fervent reaction clearly having taken her by surprise. Up close, Hubert saw that her crown was slightly askew, and a few strands of snowy white hair had come loose from the ornate coils at her ears.

“Ferdinand just—” She began, then sighed, catching sight of herself in the heavy gold mirror that hung over the fireplace. “Well. I certainly _look_ like I rushed here, don’t I?”

Hubert hardly heard this, having immediately latched on to the mention of his rival's name.

“What did he do?” He asked, now scanning Edelgard’s body for any sign of injury, as his mind raced through progressively wilder possibilities. “If that _imbecile_ hurt you, Prime Minister or not, I swear I’ll rip—”

Edelgard waved her hand at him dismissively, a slight smile gracing her lips. “It is nothing of the sort,” she said, straightening her crown in the mirror, and tucking the stray hairs neatly back into place. “I am sorry to have alarmed you, Hubert.” The Emperor had returned. 

“You're positive?” Hubert asked. He assumed Ferdinand must have done something untoward to put Edelgard into this strange state.

She nodded, her blush deepening, if that was even possible. “You’ll…understand everything in a moment.”

Hubert waited, feeling somewhat miffed. Edelgard's reluctance to tell him what Ferdinand had done was causing a pit to form in his stomach.

Edelgard softened once again. “I wish to ask your advice, as a _friend_.” She gestured toward the sofa on the other side of the room, facing the fire, beside which Hubert’s cast-iron coffee pot always rested.

“By all means.” Hubert replied, claiming the chair across from the sofa for himself, although he hesitated in front of it for a split-second on his way over. “You said...you would like my advice?”

Edelgard folded her hands in her lap. The gesture was unusual, and struck him as an indication that she was ill at ease. The pit in his stomach grew.

“Yes.” She nodded. “I require your guidance. On a personal matter.”

“Very well,” Hubert said, deeply curious what personal matter could possibly involve Ferdinand, but equally dreading the explanation. “I shall try to help you as best I can, Lady Edelgard.”

If she noticed his hesitation to address her with familiarity, she didn’t comment, her eyes falling to the floor. “Ferdinand has just offered me his hand…in marriage.”

Hubert willed himself not to react dramatically, although he felt like his chair had been pulled out from under him.

"Oh," was all he could manage.

It wasn't as if he hadn't seen this coming, but there was something wholly different between his unfounded suspicions and being forced to hear a confirmation from Edelgard's own mouth.

It took Hubert a moment to realize she was watching him anxiously, and likely wanted to hear more than a single syllable from him in response. She _had_ come here seeking his advice, after all.

"When did this happen?" He paused, cursing himself, as he remembered she had already answered this. " _How_ did this happen?" He amended.

Edelgard seemed to relax slightly, and began to recount the story in a composed, but rushed voice.

“It was at the end of our meeting. We were on the terrace, drinking tea, and I thought that he had been a little more distracted than usual, but it was a particularly nice morning. I don’t know if it was the weather or—” She paused, and her lilac eyes became unusually vibrant, as though remembering something pleasant, but deeply personal. “Anyway,” she began again, “we had just risen to say goodbye, when he suddenly knelt down and professed his love for me. He told me he’d been thinking about it for a long time, and a marriage between the two of us seemed advantageous, his feelings notwithstanding.” 

“And just what did you say to that?” Hubert asked, not quite sure if he wanted to hear the answer.

“Well…” Edelgard said, looking somewhat embarrassed, “nothing. At least, not yet. I said I needed some time to think—of course, this is an incredibly important decision—and he told me to take my time...so here I am.”

“Here to ask me...what I think.” Hubert said.

“Yes,” Edelgard replied. She seemed expectant, but almost...nervous? She was frustratingly hard to read this morning.

Hubert decided to push his luck. “What do _you_ think?”

“What do you mean?” Edelgard asked, her brow furrowing.

“About Ferdinand. Do you think you could be happy with him?”

Edelgard rolled her eyes. “Hubert, you know it’s not about that.”

“I wouldn’t be so flippant,” Hubert replied. “If you’re going to spend the rest of your life with him—”

“This was a bad idea.” Edelgard said, placing a hand over her face. “Please just...return to being my advisor.”

“Fine.” Hubert said, the slight iciness of his tone betraying just how much her words had stung him. “I simply meant to say that, as the Emperor, you are in the ultimate position of power. With any suitor. You have the right to choose a husband you won’t hate within three months.”

Edelgard shook her head. “That’s not what I...never mind.” She sighed. “Although that may be true, it would be logical for me to make a powerful marriage, since it will help to further legitimize my rule. The head of the Aegir family would naturally fit this requirement, possibly better than any other.”

“You almost sound like you want me to talk you out of it.” Hubert muttered.

Edelgard stared at him in confusion.

“Something is clearly holding you back,” he continued. “Do you have other reservations about Ferdinand? Or perhaps there is someone else you’d prefer to marry?”

“Hubert…” Edelgard let out a shaky breath, the fabric of her skirt bunching beneath her fingers. She glanced up at him, and with the force of a blow, he recognized the sadness in her eyes. “Please don’t make this any harder for me than it already is.”

A long, strained moment passed between them. 

“You should tell him you accept.” Hubert finally said.

Edelgard just stared at him, the sadness deepening.

“In fact,” he pressed on, without rancor, getting to his feet, “I’ll even tell him the good news right now, and you can have a moment to catch your breath. There’s fresh coffee in the pot if you—”

“No,” Edelgard said, shaking her head and standing as well. “This is one thing I have to do myself.”

Hubert was struck dumb for a moment, but then he nodded. "You're right. I...forgot my place."

Edelgard paused before him on her way out of the room, then suddenly stood on tiptoe to kiss his cheek, her hand resting for a moment at the side of his face.

“Thank you, Hubert,” she murmured, and turned to go.

“Of course, Lady Edelgard.” He involuntarily raised his gloved fingertips to the place where her lips had brushed his face, the action leaving him annoyed with himself.

He cursed his feelings, and all his father’s training, as he watched the Emperor slip out the door, and through his fingers forever.

* * *

"I must say, you are decisive as ever, Edelgard." Ferdinand smiled warmly as she swept into his office. "Although, I did not expect it would be so soon."

"Well," Edelgard replied, "in the end, it was quite an easy decision."

Ferdinand paled somewhat. "Don't tell me you went to Hubert."

Edelgard was taken aback for a moment, but then she sighed, smiling in spite of herself. "You know me far too well, Ferdinand. That is...exactly what I did."

"Well, spare me the torture of waiting any longer for your rejection," Ferdinand covered his face with a hand. "I knew he would not approve."

Edelgard stared at him. "I never said anything of the sort." The flush that had subsided on her walk from Hubert's study was returning with a force.

Ferdinand looked up at her, slowly, as though unsure if he had truly heard her, then got to his feet, a radiant grin setting his handsome features alight. "Then, you mean to say that...." He joined her in front of the desk, taking her hands in his own.

"Yes," Edelgard smiled, feeling tears well up in her eyes, although she couldn't have been sure quite why. "Ferdinand, nothing would make me happier than to have you at my side, governing Fódlan with me, as my prime minister...and husband."


End file.
